A couple of wiry old cattlemen helped beef up two waddling butterballs — registered Herefords raised by siblings competing in the 4-H Catch-A-Calf contest Sunday at the National Western Stock Show in Denver.

The steers' fast and furious weight gain campaign launched in May when the men, both in their mid 90s, showed up at the Stock Show grounds to meet Kira and Tucker Scoma over breakfast.

"Then, both of these sponsors went down to the yards and watched all the calves get loaded until the very last one was loaded," Kaarin Scoma, Kira and Tucker's mom, 49, said. "And both of those guys have made it out to our place to talk with the kids since then. ... It's been great. Between them, we have almost 200 years of beef industry expertise."

As soon as the Scoma family got the livestock home to their 7-acre farmette in Berthoud, Kira and Tucker counted down the days — 246 days, to be exact — to show time. And every day, they cared for the animals and tried to help them bulk up to the ambitious goal weight of 1,350 pounds.

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Dr. John Matsushima, 97, professor emeritus of animal nutrition at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, donated Kentaro — Japanese for "Strong Big Boy"-- to Kira, 14.

"And after that breakfast in May, Johnny was already calculating the feed for the duration of the project to make it to the weight goal," Bill Waneka, 69, said.

"And my dad said to Tucker, 'Whatever Dr. Matsushima says to do, do it,'" Bill Waneka recalled Friday from the Stock Show's bustling livestock prep area as he watched Tucker blow-dry Bear. The boy had sudsed his steer so thoroughly that the animal's face and even its tail tip looked white as Ivory soap itself against its dark red curly coat.

Notes from the journey

Both steers fattened up by the Scoma siblings, members of Boulder County's All In Stride 4-H Club, were born in spring 2016 at the XIT Ranch in Plains, Kan.

On Friday, they officially finished their weight gain campaign at 1,254 pounds and 1,222 pounds, respectively, slightly shy of their goal.

Kira Scoma, 14, of Berthoud, brushes her Hereford after washing it at the National Western Stock Show in Denver Friday. To view more photos visit timescall.com. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

But the 4-H Catch-A-Calf contest is, after all, about more than just beefing up cattle.

It is about getting a kid and a calf into show form, too. And in this area, Kira and Tucker hoped to get high marks today, they said.

"Raising steers and showing steers are really two very different things," Tucker said.

To show well, both kids halter-broke their steers and trained the growing animals to stand still with legs squared up and with a heads up for the judge.

They admitted that the prospect of making this happen in the show ring under pressure also forced them to be more aware of their composure and to remember how much tapping into good chemistry matters.

"Usually, when I'm frustrated or nervous while training or showing, it helps to breath in through my nose and out through my mouth," Kira explained as she brushed great wet clumps of curly dark red winter fur off Kentaro post shampoo. "It helps me calm down, and the animal can feel that and will calm down, too. That way, we can both start over."

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Alas, however, all of that relationship building and primping ends where it began Sunday.

At 10 a.m., the final showmanship and animal evaluation classes of the 2017 Catch-A-Calf contest commence.

This event often inspires young audience members planning to compete in this year's Catch-A-Calf contest, which will be held next weekend in four separate heats at four different Stock Show rodeos.

Altogether, about 50 to 60 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 from Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Wyoming will try to catch one and begin the junior beef producer adventure that has kept the Scoma kids so busy over the last eight months.

When the buzzer goes off, they will run helter-skelter through a dusty ring to catch a calf that weighs between 200 and 400 pounds.

When all the heats conclude, 40 kids total will succeed and move on to meet their calf and their sponsor at the annual early May breakfast -- the real starting line for the namesake event that debuted in 1935.

Kira and Tucker by then will have competed with their peers from the 2017 show in six categories that evaluate how well they raised the steers donated to them.

Judges consider, for example, how well they kept their record books, maintained sponsor relations, answered interview questions about their experience as a young beef producer, and demonstrated showmanship.

After all that, only the top two participants move on to sell their steers at the Stock Show's Auction of Junior Livestock Champions on Jan. 19.

The other 38 kids will lead their steers to a truck headed for a slaughterhouse after the 2017 Catch-A-Calf contest concludes Sunday morning.

"It's not going to be the end of the world," Tucker said, noting that profits either will go to his college fund or be reinvested in another beef project. "But I'm also not happy about having to sell Bear and put him on a trailer ... For now, though, for now he eats out of my hand."